BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Nov. 22, 2022) – Powered by a season-high 25 points from senior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 67-59 win over University of Bridgeport on Tuesday night at Hubbell Gym.
The Mavericks (3-2) have won two games in a row and are off to their best start since 2014. The Purple Knights (3-2) lose to Mercy in Bridgeport for the second straight year.
Wall had a game-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor and 7-of-9 shooting from downtown. Freshman Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) added a career-high 12 points and eight rebounds and graduate student Sara Hopkins (Mountain Top, Pa./Concordia College) chipped in nine points and four assists. Senior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) contributed eight points and seven rebounds and sophomore Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) had six points. Graduate student Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) netted five points.
Bridgeport was led by Shakira Hester who had a team-high 16 points.
The Purple Knights held a 12-10 lead with 4:43 left in the first quarter before Mercy closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, capped off by a Halvorsen three, to take a 17-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A Hopkins layup gave Mercy a 19-12 lead. Bridgeport later cut the Mercy lead to six, 21-15, with 7:14 left in the half. Mercy stormed back on a 9-2 run, capped off by another Halvorsen three, to take a 30-17 lead with 5:06 left in the half. Bridgeport later made it 30-22 but the Mavericks ended the half on a 6-1 run to head into halftime with a 36-23 lead.
A Wall three to open the third quarter gave Mercy a 39-23 lead. Bridgeport cut the Mercy lead to 12, 40-28, with eight minutes remaining in the quarter. The Mavericks rallied with a 12-0 run, finished off by a Barrera layup, to increase the lead to 24, 52-28, with 5:10 on the clock. Wall later built the Mercy lead to a game-high 28 points, 62-34, after a three with 1:28 left in the period. The Mavericks headed into the fourth quarter with a 63-39 lead.
Bridgeport outscored the Mavericks 20-4 in the fourth quarter but could not get closer than eight points, giving Mercy the win.
Mercy shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor, 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from downtown and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from the foul line. Bridgeport shot 33.3 percent (22-of-66) from the field, 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from beyond the arc and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 47-36 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, November 27th when they play at Assumption at 3 p.m.
